Snake Encyclopedia
Search and identify 1,000+ snakes from around the world — with venomous status, family, range, size, habitat, and how to tell look-alikes apart.
Rhombic Egg-eater
A patterned southern African egg-eating snake, closely related to (and often considered the same species complex as) the common egg-eater, marked by bold diamond-shaped dorsal blotches.
Variegated Slug-eater
A small, patterned relative of the Common Slug-eater, restricted to parts of southern Africa and equally harmless to humans.
Ringed Snail-eater
An alternate name for the boldly ringed Central American snail-eating snake, distinguished by its complete encircling bands of color.
Coral Snake
A brightly ringed, highly venomous elapid known for the rhyme distinguishing it from harmless mimics: 'red touch yellow, kill a fellow.'
Bark Snake
A small, cryptically colored, rear-fanged African colubrid that lives on tree bark and rock surfaces, of minimal risk to humans.
North American Racer
A fast-moving, slender colubrid found across much of North America, known for its speed and alert, active behavior.
Worm Snake
A tiny, glossy, worm-like colubrid of the eastern United States that spends nearly all its life burrowed underground in loose soil and leaf litter.
Reticulated Centipede-eater
A small, secretive African snake specialized for hunting centipedes, with a fine reticulated pattern and a mild venom adapted to subdue its arthropod prey.
Common Egg-eater
A remarkable African colubrid that feeds exclusively on bird eggs, using specialized vertebral spines in its throat to crack shells after swallowing them whole.
Neotropical Snail-eater
An alternate common name for the widespread snail-specialist snake found across humid Neotropical forests, known for its slender build and molluscivorous diet.
Cape Centipede-Eater
A small, secretive southern African snake that specializes in hunting centipedes, subduing them with a mild rear-fanged venom.
West African Egg-eater
A harmless, egg-specialist snake from West and Central African forests, notable for its ability to swallow eggs many times the width of its head.
Southern Brown Egg-eater
A harmless, plain brown egg-specialist snake widespread in southern Africa, capable of swallowing bird eggs whole despite its small head.
Green Mamba
A slender, bright green arboreal elapid found along coastal forests of eastern Africa, notable for its potent neurotoxic venom and shy, elusive nature.
Racer
A slender, fast-moving, sharp-eyed snake known for its speed and alert temperament.
Black-headed Centipede-eater
A small, secretive African burrower named for its glossy black head and its diet of centipedes.
Hognose Snake
A theatrical, upturned-snouted colubrid famous for its dramatic bluffing displays, including hood-flattening, hissing, and playing dead.
Elegant Coral Snake
A tricolor coral snake of humid montane and lowland forests in eastern Mexico.
Red-Naped Snake
A small elapid with a distinctive reddish patch on the back of the neck, found across eastern Australia.
Dwyer's Snake
A small, dark-headed elapid found in rocky woodland habitats of eastern Australia.
De Vis' Banded Snake
A small, secretive elapid of inland eastern Australia's floodplains, closely related to the Ornamental Snake.
Yellow-Naped Snake
A small elapid marked with a pale yellow nape patch, found in woodland habitats of eastern Queensland.
Grey Snake
A small, uncommon elapid of inland eastern Australia's floodplains and grasslands, closely related to the Marsh Snake.
Western Rat Snake
A large, dark constrictor of the central U.S. that darkens with age, closely related to the eastern and gray rat snakes.